A multi-attribute approach to select the best method for repairing river bridge columns

PurposePier scour is one of the main causes of damage to the columns of the river bridges. It is essential to select the best method among various repair methods based on different evaluation indices. However, there is no procedure for ranking these repair methods based on their attributes. The present study seeks to set an approach for this ranking.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, a multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) model is presented for ranking the repair techniques, in which alternatives are examined using the most important evaluation criteria. In addition, a combination of entropy and eigenvector methods has been proposed for weighting these attributes. A case study is then used to demonstrate the applicability and the validity of the method.FindingsThe execution of the model using two multi-criteria methods yielded similar results, which confirms its accuracy and precision. Moreover, the research findings showed the consistency of the objective and subjective weighting methods and the conformity of the weights obtained for the attributes from the combination of these methods to the nature of the problem.Originality/valueThe selection of the proper method for repairing the bridge columns plays an essential role in success of the bridge restoration. The proposed model introduces an approach for ranking repair methods and selecting the best one that has not been presented so far. Also, the weighing method for attributes is an innovative method for ranking restoration methods that has been proven in a case study.

Scale precipitation on HDPE pipe by degassing of CO2 dissolved in water

In Algeria, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) is widely used in drinking water pipes. This study is focused on the precipitation of calcium carbonate, a major constituent of scale, from calcocarbonically pure (CCP) water in HDPE pipe. Studying scaling in natural conditions is very difficult because it occurs over many years. For this, accelerated scaling is caused by the degassing CO2 dissolved in water. The kinetic study has shown that the germination time and the critical pH decrease with the hardness (30, 40 and 50 °f) and temperature (30, 40 and 50 °C) of water. On the other hand, scaling process efficiency (η) and the supersaturation coefficient (Ωcal) of CaCO3 increase with these parameters. The CaCO3 precipitation occurs both in solution and on walls of HDPE. By the weighing method, it is shown that the deposit mass increases with hardness and temperature. Calcium carbonate precipitates much more in homogeneous phase than in heterogeneous one. The study also showed that heterogeneous nucleation on HDPE is much less important than on PA, PVC, chrome and Inox. These measurements are supported by the characterization of X-ray diffraction deposits and by scanning electron microscopy, which recognizes that the precipitate obtained consists mainly of calcite.

The Use of Sucking Time to Establish Models to Estimate Breastmilk Intake of One Breastfeeding Session for 1-12-Month Infants: A Cross-sectional Study

BackgroundObservation method of assessing breastmilk intake (BI) by observing medical indices has less interference in breastfeeding than test-weighing method, but for the calculation certain influential predictor variables had not been recognized and needed to be further studied. MethodInfants between 1 and 12 months were enrolled in a hospital of Shenzhen city in northern China. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a sample of mother-infant dyads. A breastfeeding session of each participating mother subject was observed in the clinic. 150 mother-infant dyads were adopted for data analysis. BI was measured by test-weighing method. Sucking time (ST), Information of maternal and infant health, maternal breast, and infant feeding practice were collected. ResultsThere was a relationship between sucking time and breastmilk intake per breastfeeding session (r=0.57, p<0.05). In the 4 multilevel models (r>0.6, p<0.05) established to estimate breastmilk intake the best fit multilevel model was to estimate breastmilk intake per kg (infant weight) for 1-4-month infants (R2=0.53, p<0.05). Sucking time as the key variable and other factors including infant birth weight/ birth weight, breast side, maternal BMI, maternal vocation significantly had effect on breastmilk intake and those factors that remained significant varied according to different age groups. ConclusionsSucking time had a significant association with breastmilk intake in a breastfeeding session. Establishing multilevel models based on sucking time to estimate breastmilk intake per infant weight for specific age group of infants greatly improved the effectiveness. But the accuracy of the estimation needed to be improved for further application in telemedicine.

Environmental and Cost Impacts of Food Waste in University Canteen from a Life Cycle Perspective

Food waste has caused double waste of resources in the food itself and the food supply chain of production, transportation, cooking, and processing, resulting in unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions and economic losses. This paper first conducted the quantification of students’ food waste and the collection of canteens operation data in the three canteens at Taiyuan University of Technology (China) in 2019 through the weighing method and interview. Then an integration of Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing was used to quantify the impact of food waste in university canteens on the environment and costs. The study found that the total amount of food waste in the university canteens with 22,000 students was 246.75 t/a, the carbon footprint caused by food waste was 539.28 t CO2-eq, and the cost was 4,729,900 yuan. Most of the impact of canteen meals on the environment comes from the use of energy in food cooking and the consumption of animal food types. The innovative integration of life cycle cost calculations highlights the key role of the labor required for cooking. The research results answer the basic scientific questions of how much food is wasted in the university canteens, and the carbon emissions and cost ratios of these wasted food in all links of the supply chain. The research results can provide a policy-making basis and data support for reducing food waste in universities and realizing carbon emission reduction in university canteens.

Evaluation of a Novel WeChat Applet for Image-Based Dietary Assessment among Pregnant Women in China

As an important part of antenatal care for pregnant women in China, dietary assessment plays a positive role in maternal and fetal health. Shortcomings in the associated methodologies require improvement. Our purpose was to develop a novel WeChat Applet for image-based dietary assessment (WAIDA) and evaluate its relative validity among pregnant women in China. Data on 251 lunch meals of pregnant women in their second trimester were analyzed. The differences in food weight, energy, and nutrient estimates by the dietary recall or WAIDA method with the weighing method were compared using paired t-tests. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to analyze the correlation between food weight, energy, and nutrient intake obtained from the recall or WAIDA method and those obtained from the weighing method. The Bland–Altman analysis was used to examine the agreement between the recall or WAIDA method and the weighing method for energy and nutrients. Compared with the weighing method, the variation range of food weight, energy and nutrients estimated by the WAIDA method was smaller and more stable than that estimated by the recall method. Compared with the recall method, the correlations suggested a better relationship between the energy and nutrient intakes from the weighing method and those estimated by the WAIDA method (0.752–0.970 vs. 0.480–0.887), which were similar to those of food weight (0.332–0.973 vs. −0.019–0.794). The Bland-Altman analysis showed that the mean differences of the energy and nutrients estimated from the recall method were further away from zero relative to the weighing method compared to the WAIDA method and with numerically wider 95% confidence intervals. The spans between the upper and lower 95% limit of agreement (LOAs) of the energy and nutrients obtained by the WAIDA method were narrower than those obtained by the recall method, and the majority of the data points obtained by the WAIDA method lay between the LOAs, closer to the middle horizontal line. Compared with the recall method, the WAIDA method is consistent with the weighing method, close to the real value of dietary data, and expected to be suitable for dietary assessment in antenatal care.

Assessment of actual nutrition in the first trimester of pregnancy as a premorbid indicator

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the actual nutrition of pregnant women in the first trimester as the basis for a personalized approach to pregnancy management. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The actual nutrition during pregnancy was studied by analyzing the frequency of food consumption using the food weighing method, and the average daily indicators were calculated based on data for a period of one week. In total, 417 women were surveyed. The diet was characterized to identify deficiencies of the vitamins and minerals most significant for the reproductive system using the Individual Diet (My Body 3.0 version) software. Descriptive statistics methods were used to quantify the results. In the course of the work carried out, descriptive statistics methods were used. RESULTS: The energy value of the daily diet of pregnant women averaged 2294.3 487.21 kcal, which is within normal values (2070.03507.5 kcal / day), a surplus being observed in almost a third of the respondents (n = 118, 28.3%). The analysis of the diet showed that most of the patients had a deficiency in vitamins, macro- and microelements most significant for the reproductive system. On average, pregnant women consumed 155.0 0.52 g / day of folic acid with food, no woman receiving enough folic acid to prevent congenital malformations of the fetus. The average dietary intake of iodine was 70 g / day. Thus, focusing on the recommendations for pregnant women, a diet deficient in iodine was observed in 90% of the respondents, and only five women (1.2%) consumed a sufficient amount of iodine-containing products. It was found that pregnant women consumed 5.9 2.10 mg / day of zinc, with the recommended intake level of more than 12.5 mg / day not recorded in any woman. Iron deficiency was found in 289 respondents (69%). According to the survey results, more than half of the respondents (n = 269, 64.5%) had insufficient selenium intake. Calcium deficiency was registered in half of pregnant women (n = 210, 50.0%). Only every tenth woman (n = 48, 10.0%) consumed a sufficient amount of calcium containing food. Poor magnesium consumption was rarer and was found in only one third of the respondents (n = 135, 32.0%). CONCLUSIONS: The data obtained indicate the need to study the individual level of actually consumed vitamins and nutrients, which may be the basis for personalized selection of drugs and efficient microelement dosing strategy.

Measuring Liveability in Iranian Cities Using the Global Liveable City Index (GLCI)

Background: Urban liveability and its relationship with health indices is now an emerging topic in health research. In order to conduct liveability research, initially, the liveability index should be calculated according to a comprehensive, transparent, and standardized methodology. Objectives: The purpose of this paper was to apply the global liveable cities index (GLCI), to assess and rank liveability in 31 Iranian cities. Methods: The GLCI is based on 114 indicators in five domains, which include economic, environmental, security and stability, socio-cultural, and political factors. This study was based on two scenarios. The first scenario was to assign equal weights to each indicator. The second scenario was the Shapley weighing method and allocated different weights to indices. City rankings were calculated and compared in both scenarios. Results: The cities of Tehran, Sari, and Tabriz generally performed well in the overall liveability ranking. Tehran ranked first based on the economic vibrancy and competitiveness domain, while Sari, Karaj, and Tabriz held the second to fourth ranks in both methods, respectively. Tabriz ranked first in the environmental friendliness and sustainability and domestic security and stability domains, and Sari ranked first in the socio-cultural conditions domain. Tehran and Semnan had the first rank in the political governance domain. Conclusions: The findings of this research show that different cities of Iran are very different in regard to liveability. These rankings can help policymakers find out what domains need more attention to improving the liveability of cities.

Ketepatan pemorsian hidangan di RSUD Dr. Tjitrowardojo Purworejo

Maintaining food quality can be done by supervising portion standards. One of the important components in food management is the quality of human resources. The research objective was to determine the accuracy of serving dishes in terms of the characteristics of the serving staff. This observational study had a cross-sectional design. Collecting data in July 2019 at the Nutrition Installation of Dr. Tjitrowardojo Purworejo hospital. The research subjects were 14 people who were taken by a purposive sampling method. Subject characteristics consist of age, gender, level of education, and length of work. The accuracy of serving dishes was categorized into precise (±10% of standard serving) and imprecise (<10% or >10% of standard serving). The weighing method is used to determine the portion produced by the research subject. The research instrument is a digital food scale that has been calibrated at the BBKKP Calibration Laboratory with the number: 310/Labkal/V/2019. Data analysis used the Spearman Rank Correlation test. The results showed that most of the dishes were not done correctly (85,7%). Statistically, the characteristics of the serving staff do not show a correlation with the accuracy of serving dishes (p > 0,05). Concluded, there is no correlation between the characteristics of the proponents with the accuracy of the serving dishes in Dr. Tjitrowardojo Purworejo hospital.

Relationship of Sodium Intake with Overweight/Obesity among Chinese Children and Adolescents: Data from the CNNHS 2010–2012

This study aims to examine association between sodium intake and overweight/obesity among Chinese children and adolescents. Data were obtained from China National Nutrition and Health Surveillance (CNNHS), 2010–2012. All participants recruited in this study aged 7–18 years old and provided complete dietary data on three-day consecutive 24 h dietary recalls combining with the household weighing method. Body Mass Index (BMI) was used to define overweight/obesity, and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) was used to define abdominal obesity. Sodium intake showed association with risk of overweight/obesity assessed by BMI in the highest tertile group with OR of 1.48 (95%CI 1.13–1.94) and 1.89 (95%CI 1.33–2.67) for WHtR. After adjusted for gender, age, household income, area, energy, carbohydrates, protein, fat, saturated fatty acids, and fiber intake, the relationship between sodium intake and overweight/obesity and abdominal obesity are not changed. The same results were founded in subjects aged 10–18 years old. Our results reveal a positive association between sodium intake and overweight/obesity in Chinese children and adolescents, independent of energy consumption.